Last week at the C-USA tournament UH tennis earned a win against Southern Mississippi State 4-0, to advance to the quarter-finals but lost to No. 53 Tulane 4-0, which snapped their five match win streak and ended Houston’s season.

“I thought we came out and played Southern Miss very well, and against Tulane doubles was very crucial,” head coach John Severance said.

“At the end of the day we were leading the third, fourth, and fifth positions and felt we could (have) won those games … We were tied at the leading doubles points and just couldn’t pull out the win.”

The Cougars finished the regular season 13-7, (14-8 overall), which included four close 4-3 losses.

“Our schedule was a lot more demanding this year than last year. Other than the 4 losses to ranked teams, we lost to very good schools most of the time 4-3 and it would have been nice to grab a few more wins, but overall I’m proud of what this team did this year.” Severance said.

UH is also losing seniors Giorgia Pozzan and Laura Ring who were enormous pieces to Houston’s success the past few seasons

“A lot of credit to Giorgia. She came here and was a leader and really helped the team compete, and Laura made the best of her second opportunity and enjoyed her season here,” Severance said.

Pozzan leaves with a career singles and doubles record of 98-38 and ranks third in program history with her win percentage while Ring has a doubles record of 34-12 in three years with Houston.

“Next season I only look for UH tennis to get better, we have a good team and we’ll make some additions but we’ll have to wait and see,” Severance said about next season.

“We knew we needed to win out to secure good seeding and that’s exactly what we did,” head coach John Severance said.

UH finished the regular season 13-7, its 10th straight winning season and eighth under Severance.

The Cougars will meet up with Southern Miss today in Memphis, Tenn.

The Cougars played a tougher schedule this season in a bid to claim a national ranking and it should pay dividends in the tournament.

“Going into the conference tournament, I think we’re a more disciplined team, we don’t make the same mistakes we did earlier in the season and have cut down on the errors,” Severance said.

“We’ve had a lot of close matches this season and sometimes the breaks didn’t go our way but we battled and that showed a lot about this team.”

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The Cougars have won their last four matches by a margin of 27-1.

In both weekend matches, the duo of Giorgia Pozzan and Celia Fraser won their doubles matches, and proceeded to win their singles matches as UH’s top-two seeds.

The Conference USA Tournament starts Thursday in Memphis.

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The Cougars had their three-match win streak snapped by No. 31 Tulsa last weekend in a 7-0 contest to fall to 9-7 this spring.

“Looking back at it now, I don’t think we played poorly,” head coach John Severance said. “I think we played pretty good but we didn’t step up to the level of competition we knew we were going to face.

“We’re going to have to step our game up to compete at that level.”

Despite not earning a point during the contest, UH competed with nationally-ranked players.

“Ballstrike with ballstrike, we were right there with them,” Severance said. “I think they were a tad more disciplined.

“They had a bit more confidence and I think that’s where they beat us.”

In doubles, Bryony Hunter and Giorgia Pozzan almost came back against Tulsa’s 69th ranked doubles tandem, but lost while the duo of Laura Ring and Liselot Koenen were handed their second loss of the season. Singles saw Pozzan and Celia Fraser take 11-straight games off top-100 ranked players, while Maja Kazimieruk saw her six-match win streak snapped. UH only has a handful of matches left and Severance intends on winning out

“We just have to fine tune out game a bit and know that we have to win out in order to get a good seed in conference,” he said.

Despite the stiff competition, Kazimieruk’s play stood out. She is 11-4 this spring and has solidified the No. 5 and 5 positions for UH.

“She has played solid disciplined ball so far and im expecting her to jump up in the lineup a bit,” Severance said. “We really have to be solid at the four, five, six positions”

The Cougars play their home finale on Sunday against t UT-Pan American at the John E. Hoff courts.

On Thursday, the Cougars steamrolled Prairie View A&M in a 7-0 shutout and won a hotly contested 4-3 match against Texas State on Sunday to improve to 10-6 this spring.

The Prairie View match was a makeup of last week’s rained out contest and UH dominated in all aspects of play.

“It’s always nice to get a win over a Division-I opponent,” head coach John Severance said.

The Cougars were in control most of the afternoon as their top doubles pair of Giorgia Pozzan and Bryony Hunter came back from an early deficit to sweep their round.

Maja Kazimieruk and Charlotte Phillips continued their dominant singles play as the Cougars swept that round as well.

“We’re expecting a battle against Texas State on Sunday and we have to carry our momentum over against a team that has beaten some quality opponents this season,” Severance said of their next match

The result went down to the wire as UH ended the match on top with their seventh 4-3 result of the season. “I was thoroughly impressed with how we handled doubles today,” Severance said. “We trailed early at the top two positions but they battled through it which made the difference in the match.”

In doubles the pair of Giorgia Pozzan and Celia Fraser improved to 2-1 together, while Laura Ring and Liselot Koenen earned their seventh win of the season.

“In singles, Charlotte (Phillips) cleaned up her game a good bit and you can see how dominant she can be,” Severance said. “Bryony (Hunter) had a tough matchup, but put it all together in the third set and Maja continues to be dominant.”

Maja Kazirmieruk has come on strong as she stands with an 11-3 overall record after earning her sixth-straight victory on Sunday.

The Cougars take on No. 29 Tulsa at 10 a.m. Saturday at the John E. Hoff courts.

Over spring break, the Cougars continued their quest for a national ranking with a string of five matches against Iowa State, Marquette, Idaho, Kansas and Bowling Green, going 2-3.

All three of the losses ended with in a heartbreaking 4-3 fashion.

“We were in all those matches against some really good programs,” head coach John Severance said.

“We weren’t at full strength and the breaks didn’t go our way”.

The Cougars hadn’t played in almost two weeks when their first match of the break against Iowa State came.

“Anytime you have that much time off, you’re going to have some rust,” Severance said.

“You have to keep that competitive edge and our first match back we ended up in a dogfight.”

UH then proceeded in dropping three straight close 4-3 decisions before coming up on top against Bowling Green, 5-2.

“I’ve never seen so many close matches in any season,” Severance said.

“It really has been a day-to-day season.”

Of 14 matches this season, six have ended 4-3 with the Cougars going 1-5 in those contests.

“Our new motto is no more 3-4 matches,” Severance said.

“During the season you’re  going to need a little bit of luck and have things go your way and so far it hasn’t happened.

“We need to improve on our serves and just cut down on mistakes in order to avoid those close calls, but overall we are competing well and just need to translate that into wins.”

The Cougars will try to get things rolling again at 3 p.m. as they make-up a match against Prairie View A&M at the John E. Hoff Tennis Courts.

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Despite losing a close match against No. 58 Tulane to snap their five-match win streak a week ago, the Cougars intend to go on another tear as their quest for a national ranking continues.

One player that has come on strong during UH’s recent dominance is senior Laura Ring.

Ring, a doubles specialist, has gone 5-0 in doubles play while teamed up with freshmen Charlotte Phillips and Liselot Koenen.

When the spring season started, head coach John Severance noted that the team needed to improve in doubles play and brought in Ring after she took a year off to focus on academic to address that need.

“Laura is a great player and competitor,” Severance said. “She plays with great energy and is an animal at the net — she doesn’t stop.

“She really is seizing her second chance to play.”

Ring is enjoying her comeback and has become a vital part of the Cougars’ success.

“I believe that I bring energy to the team,” Ring said “ I really want to play and do well while helping the team win.”

Ring plays doubles exclusively. She said it is completely different game than singles.

“It is totally different in every way,” she said. “First off, you have a teammate right there cheering you on and you pump each other up, but you also have to communicate and work as a team.”

She has proven herself over the past month as she has helped make UH a force in doubles play.

Last week against Tulane, she and Liselot Koenen earned UH only win out of three hotly-contested doubles matches for Houston.

Ring started her collegiate tennis career at Texas Tech, but decided to transfer to play in Houston for Severance.

“I came here because I wanted to be a Cougar,” Ring said. “UH has the best fans, best facilities and I love my teammates.”

She feels that coming to Houston was the right decision.

“It’s great, I love my teammates,” she said. “We all get along and it gives you a chance to build lifelong friendships.”

Ring’s answer for wanting to play for Severance was simple.

“Because he’s the best — go Coogs.”

Despite taking a year off, Ring shows little signs of rust.

“I have played since I was around seven years old,” Ring said. “I love it.”

So far this season, Ring and her partners have found the perfect pre-match formula to produce wins.

“I just pump myself up, get ready mentally, I drink water and just listen to loud music,” she said.

“Me and my partner just pump each other up.”

The Cougars brought in Ring to help improve their doubles play as part of their larger goal to obtain a national ranking.

“My team goal is to get nationally ranked, and my personal goal is go undefeated,” Ring said.

Severance is confident that the Cougars can accomplish both of those goals and spur on another win streak — or as he put it, “kick butt.”

Laura Ring and the Cougars will be back in action at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the John E. Hoff courts as they take on Prairie View A&M.

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UH’s five-match winning streak was snapped this weekend as it split a pair of matches.

The Cougars (5-3) played two away matches winning the first against Southeastern Louisiana, 7-0, and losing a heated contest against powerhouse Tulane, 5-2.

Head coach John Severance made clear his expectations for the team after the close battle with Tulane (9-1).

“From here on out we expect to win every match,” Severance said. “We have a chance to start another winning streak starting next week.”

The Cougar’s top doubles tandem of Giorgia Pozzan and Bryony Hunter started out with an 8-2 win to open play against Southeastern Lousiana (4-2), while the Liselot Koenen/Laura Ring combination clinched the doubles point for the Houston with an 8-3 win.

UH swept the singles event with Celia Fraser earning her fifth straight singles win 6-2, 6-1, while Maja Kazimieruk improved to 6-1 in singles play with a 6-2, 6-1 win.

“Today’s play was tough with windy conditions,” Severance said.

“We now have to focus on our first Conference USA match against Tulane tomorrow and we expect an extremely physical, mental and vocal match.”

Which is exactly what the Cougars got.

“I’m proud of the way we played, it was the closest and most emotional match we’ve played as a team,” Severance said of the 5-2 loss to Tulane.

“We came together and played our hearts out but didn’t come out with the result we wanted.”

The Cougars had lost the doubles event, but roared back in the singles event to almost pull out the upset. Pozzan and Bryony Hunter led the rally by winning their singles matches. Pozzan scored 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 which improved her record to 7-1 in singles play, while Hunter won her match 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

But the rally fell just short as the Cougars eventually lost.

“We couldn’t finish off points in doubles play, but we were in four matches in singles against a team that’s going to be nationally ranked,” Severance said.

The Cougars are off this  weekend, but play their next match at the John E. Hoff Tennis Courts Mar. 7 against Prairie View A&M.

In the meantime, Severance said that the Cougars would continue to practice going into the match and he wants a rematch against the Cougars’ Conference USA rival.

“I hope to play Tulane again this season.”

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The Cougars’ winning ways continued Saturday.

UH extended its winning streak to four matches with an easy 5-1 decision over Sam Houston State in an indoors match at the Galleria Tennis and Athletic Club.

“I thought they would be the better team indoors,” head coach John Severance said. “I’m proud of the way we’ve responded lately and we’re playing good tennis right now.”

The Cougars have bounced back from an 0-2 start this season to win their last four matches by a 23-4 margin.

“We’re finally starting to come together as a team and do the stuff that we are capable of doing,” Severance said. “We’ve really cut down on the errors.”

The key ingredient to UH’s recent dominance has been its ability to dominate opponents 1-6, “top to bottom” as Severance put it.

“I don’t really think one player has taken off, but more our play has elevated from top to bottom,” he said.

Against the Bearkats, senior Giorgia Pozzan won the opener 6-2, 6-1 to record her fifth straight victory and improved to 5-1 overall in singles matches.

Sophomore Celia Fraser, the heroine of last week’s matches, won her match 6-1, 6-4 to record her fourth straight win and improved to 4-2 overall this spring.

Houston’s Bryony Hunter, Maja Kazimeriuk and Charlotte Phillips also won their matches continuing to make the case for a national ranking, which is coach Severance’s goal for the program this spring.

On Friday, UH looks to extend their winning streak against Southeastern Louisiana State, one of the top programs in the Southland Conference.

“We haven’t played them in two years and they are a strong program, but we expect to come out with the result we want after the match.” Coach Severance said of the upcoming contest.

The Cougars will be in action noon Friday in Hammond, La., before taking on Conference USA opponent Tulane on Saturday.

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After opening the season 0-2, the Cougars have won three straight matches with their latest wins coming this weekend against Northwestern State and UTSA.

The Cougars pulled out the win against Northwestern State in a close 4-3 win that went down to the wire Saturday, while rolling UTSA to the side in a 7-0 rout on Sunday.

“We came out sluggish in doubles but rebounded nicely in singles,” head coach John Severance said.

“The team showed a lot of effort and we’ll take the win.”

After the win on Saturday against the Lady Demons, Severance stressed the importance of winning doubles matches and the Cougars managed to take the doubles point despite the sluggish start.

The duo of Liselot Koenen and Laura Ring continued their success winning 8-3, building off last week’s win.

Sophomore Celia Fraser again engaged in an winner take-all bout against Tatiana Larina, clinching the match 6-2, 6-4.

The Cougars were dominant on Sunday against UTSA.

“We came out and played well in doubles and never really looked back,” Severance said.

“I’m really proud of the whole team today. It’s always good to get a 7-0 win.”

The doubles campaign ended with a 8-4 win by the Cougars’ top duo of Giorgia Pozzan and Bryony Hunter, who improved to 23-11 overall since the 2010-2011 season.

The Cougars managed to win all but one set in the singles contest which included a 6-0, 6-2 rout by freshman Liselot Koenen, who improved to 4-1 in singles play this spring season.

The Cougars (3-2) look to further make a statement for a national ranking as they take on Sam Houston State at 10 a.m. Saturday at the John E. Hoff Tennis Courts.

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“I’m very pleased with the win today,” Head Coach John Severance said. “We were the more disciplined team and that’s how we have to play from here on out.

“Everyone had great attention spans and were very focused today.”

Senior Giorgia Pozzan and freshman Liselot Koenen continued their winning ways with Pozzan taking her match 6-1, 6-0 and Koenen winning 6-0, 6-3 to both stay undefeated this spring at 3-0.

“We didn’t commit the mistakes that we have in the past,” Severance said. “We have to continue to play this way against out tougher opponents.”

In doubles play, where Severance wanted see improvement, UH swept the Cowgirls, winning all three matches with senior Laura Ring playing her first match since the 2009-10 season.

One player that Severance spoke highly of in the fall was freshmen Charlotte Phillips of Nottinghamshire, England. Phillips picked up her first win of the spring against the Cowgirls (6-2, 6-2).

“Charlotte has a lot of talent and potential, and if she keeps improving she’ll be winning weekly,” Severance said.

Phillips decision to come to UH was an easy one.

“I loved the Houston atmosphere and felt at it was the best school for me academically,” she said.

“And the weather is good compared to England’s.”

Phillips’ goal, like the rest of the Cougars, is to achieve a national ranking.

“I just want to keep improving and help the team win, which will get us nationally ranked.

“I think I can help the team win and, by being left-handed, bring something different to the team.”

The Cougars hope to continue their strong play with a pair of home-weekend matches. They will take on Northwestern State at 10 a.m. Saturday and UTSA at noon Sunday at the John E. Hoff Tennis Courts.

“Northwestern and UTSA are two very good programs,” Severance said. “We’ll have to keep playing like we did this past weekend — focused with no errors.”

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The quest to earn a national ranking continued for the Cougars on Saturday against Colorado.

Coming off a loss to No. 6 Baylor last weekend, UH (0-2) looked to further make a statement, but fell in a 4-3 decision to the Buffaloes (2-2).

Things looked good early for the Cougars as they won the opening doubles round but unforced errors during the singles round would prove costly in the end.

“Anytime you lose 4-3 it’s going to be disappointing,” Head Coach John Severance said. “The fact that we blew so many opportunities and made unforced errors is going to haunt us. That was the deciding factor today.

“I made it clear to the team that they (Colorado) weren’t going to roll over and give it up. We have to capitalize on our overall-good play and can’t win when we commit so many errors.”

During the opening doubles round Charlotte Phillips and Maja Kazimieruk took their bout with an 8-3 decision while Giorgia Pozzan and Bryony Hunter won their match 8-6 to give UH an early lead.

During the singles round, freshman Liselot Koenen continued her strong play as she dominated her match 6-0, 6-2 to move to 2-0 in singles play this spring.

Senior Giorgia Pozzan also added another victory to her singles’ resume with a 6-3, 7-5 rout of CU’s Erin Sanders.

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The Cougars took on No. 6 Baylor on Saturday and lost 6-1 in their spring-season opener.

“I thought we competed very well,” head coach John Severance said. “We had opportunities to win more singles points against the sixth-ranked team in the country.

“We showed a lot of people there today that we’re a competitive bunch and it’s only a matter of time until we’re nationally ranked.”

Last week he cited the importance of being able to beat the nation’s top teams and next week the goal remains the same as UH takes on Colorado at 1 p.m. Saturday at the John E. Hoff courts.

The Buffaloes (1-1) plays in one the toughest tennis conferences in the nation — the Pac-12 — and UH hopes that a win will strengthen its argument for a national ranking.

Severance wasn’t happy about the loss to Baylor, but hoped it showed that they are capable of competing with high-level teams.

“I don’t  like losing, even to the number-six program in the nation,” Severance said. “We have to play well 100 percent of the time, playing well 90 percent of the time wont cut it.

“The team wasn’t upbeat about losing and I don’t want them to be, but they now know that can compete with the best.”

Senior Giorgia Pozzan took on  Baylor’s Diana Nakic, the 14th-ranked player in the nation, and lost a close 7-5, 7-5 singles match .

“She showed how much she wants to compete and win,” Severance said.

Freshmen Charlotte Phillips and Liselot Koenen also had strong performances against the Bears, but are not finished products.

“They have to keep improving and gaining experience,” Severance said.

The Cougars have goals for the season and they know how to achieve them.

“We want to be nationally ranked,” Severance said. “And have to now win against those good teams.”

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Anyone for tennis?

The Cougars open their spring campaign against Big 12-powerhouse Baylor (2-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Waco.

After a strong fall season, head coach John Severance said that UH’s goal for the spring is to earn a national ranking.

“We have a fairly decent schedule and have the talent to compete with the best programs in the nation,” Severance said.

Senior Giorgia Pozzan led the Cougars last fall with a 17-6 record overall and followed that with two singles titles in the fall.

“Her work ethic is very good and she has an strong will to win,” Severance said. “She has those qualities that can’t be coached”

Liselot Koenen and Charlotte Phillips, who showed flashes during the fall, highlight a freshmen class that Severance called “one of the best we’ve had.”

Despite some of the Cougars’ key players being less experienced players, Severance thinks that youth might also work as a strength.

“We’re a young team, have great leadership and have great team character,” he said.

Despite the impressive collection of individual talent, the Cougars will have to come together to find success.

“It will have to be a team effort,” he said. “Everyone will have to contribute

“This the best 1-6 we’ve ever had in terms of talent.”

The Bears will provide a great benchmark for the Cougars to measure themselves against.

“Baylor has been a top-five program for a while now and we have great respect for what they have achieved,” Severance said.

Two freshmen highlighted play at the ITA Regionals in Fort Worth for the Cougars.

Charlotte Phillips and Leslot Koenen each won four matches during the five-day tournament to advance to the semi-finals of singles consolation play, where they were scheduled to face each other, but the team opted to skip the head-to-head matchup.

“Charlotte played pretty well and only lost one match to the No. 1 player from UTEP,” head coach John Severance said. “But she was in complete control of the match. She made some unforced errors, but she had a very good tournament.”

Giorgia Pozzan got her first loss of the season. After winning her opening round match in the main singles draw, Pozzan lost in three sets to Noel Scott of Texas.

Pozzan also teamed with Bryony Hunter in doubles play.

After dropping their first match to a Texas A&M duo, they won against pairs from Texas A&M Corpus Christi and TCU. They lost in the consolation finals to seventh-seeded Stephen F. Austin.

The ITA tournaments are tough to measure success by merely wins and losses because they are not flighted. In flighted tournaments, school’s top-seeded players play against other school’s top-seeded players, second seeds against second seed and so on. The ITAs allow for all seeds to compete against each other, creating matchups that ordinarily would not occur.

“It’s tough to judge,” Severance said. “We had some good wins, but also a couple of losses I didn’t think would happen.

“We still need to clean up our errors and serve at a higher percentage and be even more disciplined in our shot selection alone. That’s what we’ll try to focus on.”

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Several Cougar tennis players are coming off wins from their most recent tournament, the Roberta Allison Classic. The most notable winner, Giorgia Pozzan, remains undefeated in tournament play this fall at 6-0 after claiming her second singles title of the fall.

In doubles play, Pozzan and Bryony Hunter earned a title in the consolation bracket, improving to 14-7 in play together.

“They’re really starting to click, and any team that plays them will have their hands full,” head coach John Severance said.

After this weekend, the Cougars will play their first tournament at home for the Cougar Fall Draw, Nov. 4-6 at the John E. Hoff Courts.